May 2 2008

Three New Immigration-Related Bills Introduced in the House of Representatives

In late April three new immigration-related bills were introduced in the House of Representatives. The first bill, introduced on 4/23/2008, proposes to recapture employment-based immigrant visas that were lost due to bureaucratic delays. The bill, titled H.R. 5882, was introduced by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and aims to prevent future losses of family- and employment-based immigrant visas.

The second bill, also introduced by Representative Lofgren, was proposed on 4/29/2008. This bill, H.R. 5921, would eliminate the ‘per country level’ for employment based immigrants. The bill, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, proposes to “end the spill-over of unused immigrant visa numbers between employment-based and family-sponsored categories.”

H.R. 5924, introduced on 4/29/2008 by Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL), would provide much needed relief for the current shortage of nurses in the United States.